Christians in the eastern China are struggling to defend their faith as Communist Party authorities continue to forcibly remove crosses and demolish churches in what believers call the worst anti-Christian crackdown in decades.

A broken cross lies on the ground

Chen Zhi’ai, a church leader in the Wenzhou, eastern China says, “What the government here is doing is so barbaric, they’re like bandits and we are furious with them. Today we’ve seen the fundamental symbol of our faith violated and it hurts us deep inside our hearts.”